4 friends killed in 'violent' shooting, dismembered, thrown in Oklahoma river; person of interest named

The person of interest, Joe Kennedy, is missing, police said.

Four close friends who mysteriously disappeared in Oklahoma were killed in a "violent" shooting at a scrapyard, dismembered and thrown in a river, according to police.

The owner of the scrapyard, Joe Kennedy, is a person of interest in the quadruple murder, Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice said at a news conference Monday.

Prentice said authorities want to speak to Kennedy, who is missing, and stressed that he has not been named a suspect.

The victims, Mark Chastain, 32, Billy Chastain, 30, Mike Sparks, 32, and Alex Stevens, 29, were last seen leaving one of their homes in Okmulgee on the night of Oct. 9, reportedly riding bicycles, according to Okmulgee police.

"I've worked over 80 murders in my career ... but this case involves the highest number of victims and it's a very violent event," the chief said.

Mark Chastain, Billy Chastain, Mike Sparks, and Alex Stevens were last seen leaving one of their homes in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, around 8 p.m. Sunday reportedly riding bicycles, according to police. Okmulgee Police Department/Facebook

Billy Chastain, one of the four friends who mysteriously disappeared in Oklahoma, is pictured in an undated photo released by Okmulgee Police Department. Okmulgee Police Department via Facebook

The victims planned to commit a crime that night, Prentice said Monday, citing an individual who had been asked to participate but declined. Police do not know what the alleged planned crime involved.

Their four dismembered bodies were found in a river on Friday.

There's nothing to indicate any relationship between Kennedy and the victims, Prentice said. Kennedy has denied knowing them, he added.

The victims' bicycles remain missing, police said.

ABC News' Nadine El-Bawab and Irving Last contributed to this report.

DistributedDemocracy on October 17th, 2022 at 20:58 UTC »

Wow, this 11k town is a fucking warzone for crime.

With a crime rate of 51 per one thousand residents, Okmulgee has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 20.

The percent is how far above the national average. TOTAL CRIME 108% VIOLENT CRIME 51% PROPERTY CRIME 119%

https://www.areavibes.com/okmulgee-ok/crime/

https://crimegrade.org/safest-places-in-okmulgee-ok/

The D- grade means the rate of crime is much higher than the average US city. Okmulgee is in the 9th percentile for safety, meaning 91% of cities are safer and 9% of cities are more dangerous. This analysis applies to Okmulgee's proper boundaries only. See the table on nearby places below for nearby cities.

Not just one year either

The 2019 crime rate in Okmulgee, OK is 448 (City-Data.com crime index), which is 1.7 times greater than the U.S. average. It was higher than in 93.8% U.S. cities. The 2019 Okmulgee crime rate rose by 8% compared to 2018. In the last 5 years Okmulgee has seen decreasing violent crime and increasing property crime.

Oh but they still want 300k for houses like this. HA I say!

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/727-N-Seminole-Ave_Okmulgee_OK_74447_M88494-07081

Mofo couldn't even do the walkway tiles for the real estate photo and wants 300k. Tell 'im 'e's dreamin' !!

kingdazy on October 17th, 2022 at 18:02 UTC »

Oh shit.

I'd seen news headlines about this the last few days, didn't click through, because I somehow assumed that a group of dudes had just drowned in a river. (kind of common out here on west coast because of white water kayaking, etc)

TheRobinators on October 17th, 2022 at 18:02 UTC »

Kennedy, who is missing, has denied knowing them?